INTERCULTURAL LIVING: REVIEW (3)

Leadership

One of the most significant aspects of religious life is leadership. It begins with Serrano’s exploration of the demanding role of religious leaders in intercultural communities. Servant leadership should be a model of spiritual leadership following the example of Jesus Himself, who became the servant for His apprentices. 


The religious communities’ context is dynamic; thus, competence and wisdom are needed to anticipate the unavoidable problems in the given contexts. 


The article that follows is written based on the author’s own experience as a provincial, whose members were from diverse cultural backgrounds. 


It claims that to be a leader for such a context, the leader needs to ‘hold diversity lightly.’ The leader is called not to focus on its members’ deficiency but their qualities and gifts in mission. 


Furthermore, through her article, Cimperman calls for prophetic leadership to establish peace and harmony in the conflictual situation. Therefore, the leader’s role is not only to serve with a compassionate heart but also to bring God’s vision of peace, justice, and love into the world. 


A prophetic leadership qualification is accomplished through listening (prophetic listening) to those who have experienced the ‘conflicts’ (problems of injustice) and analyze them. The social analysis should be followed by a faith response (prayer). 


The ‘vow’ of obedience is discussed in the last article under this subheading. As one of the qualities in religious life, compliance has been challenged in its application in autonomy times. Constructing his idea on both philosophical and theological based, Anjos, the writer of this article, sets the root of the human condition of obedience, tension between capacity and finitude, and confront the obedience with God’s authority. 


There is a responsibility between autonomy and obedience. Obedience, therefore, is seen as the practice of responsibility towards freedom within the intercultural community.


To be Continued...

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